Wow, big question get big answer.But before the debate unfolds, if it does, let me answer more openly.Nearly all big, and many smaller, cities in India will have great musicians. Additionally, many cities/states outside of India will also have great numbers of leading artists. For example, California is home to - at least partially - Ravi Shankar, Shujaat Khan, Zakir Hussain, Swapan Chaudhury, L. Subramaniam, Kala Ramnath, the late sarod legend Ali Akbar Khan, the list goes on. So, good luck where ever you are, I think you can find yourself in good hands if you look sincerely. IMHO, I think New Delhi and Kolkata are both power houses that I prefer.GJW

To my mind first comes Dharwad and Hubli. The greatest legends of Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet hail from this part of north Karnataka. Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Mallikarjun Mansur, Pt Basavraj Rajguru, Pta Gangubai Hangal to name a few of the brightest stars. There is something special in the water of this area........

In terms of musical activity Pune is probably the most active. Apart from the most important Sawai Gandharva festival, there are concerts happening almost everyday. I remember of those weekends back in the 70s when every Saturday and Sunday I used to just rock up to the Lakshmi Krida Mandir and there would be some top notch artist performing there. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Prabha Atre and so many others owe their rise to this place. It also used to be free of charge, with a very knowledgeable audience, so a real testing ground for musicians. Great fun. With heaps of excellent teachers, classses, colleges, Pune is known as the seat of learning and the cultural capital of India.

Lets not forget Ahemdabad India - where Saptak is Held every year and the Saptak School of Music is. 4 concerts a month at least - Ustad Akram Khan - Ustad Ikram Khan - Hashant ALi Khan - Ustad Zakir Hussein - Pt. Nandan Mehtha - Pt. Kumar Bose - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan - Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia - Smt. Manju Metha - Ustad Shahid Parvez - Pandit Ravi Shankar (one time 5-6 years ago) - Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma - Pandit Sukhraj Jhalla (Nikhil Bannerjee's disciple) and many others I simply cannot list come here EVERY YEAR at least once. Many of the ones I named in particular LIVE HERE. I am not shouting as the above cities are AMAZING - just emphasizing - I think Ahemdabad is over looked in leu of these amazing other cities. Enjoy and work hard where ever you go. Practice and do what your teacher tells you - if he or she is worth their salt the road will be far less treacherous. Try not to think - we have had "our time" to improvise and do as we please. But that is not life. Life is takes real discipline and therefore this music as a reflection of life must necessarily have it as well. Put aside things you want to play and play what you have been taught a thousand times per day. Practice just a straight Sargam everyday a 1000 times at least and one "Murchana" 1000 times. Anyway those are my thoughts

When I think of what would be the best music city, I am thinking of something that has great live performances...classical, light...love to see street performances, too. But I am also hoping to go somewhere to learn a bit of music as I plan to be in India for a while.

Performance are held almost every week in Ahmedabad ~ Saptak School is here and so is Poonam Palace and Raga Enterprises. All places mentioned are great but I truly believe that the lack of liquor (banned in Gujarat) and some other factors (money, the most Universities like NID, CEPT, IIM, etc are located here) make this a place that not only holds concerts every week if not more ~ the musicians themselves actually "hang out" here. The above cities are great as well. As far as California is concerned ~ come on guys ~ it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the same ONE ON ONE instruction for an affordable price in America period. I bought a home here and it STILL comes out cheaper because I can SELL the home when I leave and pay 5 dollars a day for two hour lessons (it is actually 3 dollars~ i give him more) ~ then go to Ikram Bhai and "jam" in the afternoon. I keep many of my friends and students here (rotating in and out) at my home to keep there costs down. You can see some of them perform with me under the videos on my website ~ "The Noose" I believe. There are a handful of really great cities ~ Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur (many places in Rajasthan actually), Calcutta (Kolkata), Lucknow and few others I think guidance once one is in India is of most imporatnce ~ English to Hindi that type of stuff ~ else you will have a "not so great" experience becasue you could (and will get ripped off by rickshaw wallas etc ~ easy thing to remember, tell the rickshaw driver to ZERO the meter (make sure) then whatever number comes out DIVIDE BY FOUR and that is what you pay. When anyone says ZERO the meter they seem to understand they cannot rip anyone off (rickshaws)

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